How on earth is it August already?! Seriously, I’m not sure were 2020 is going, although I can’t deny I’ll be glad to see the end of it. July was all about our home improvement project, as we’re moving next door and the place needed a lot of TLC before it was habitable again (part of the structure is over 100 years old…). I’ve been prepping during July while the workers did their thing; sewing new curtains, a sofa cover and painting bits and bobs to speed things up… The painting has begun in earnest now, so you will probably not see me around much this month or at least until we have finished moving. Wish me luck! xD I have a bunch of posts scheduled and ready to go, so the blog won’t be empty at least. 😉

Next: the bookish numbers.

  • Number of books read in July: 22
  • Total number of books read in 2020: 157
  • Total number of pages read in July: 7.367
  • Total number of pages read in 2020: 52.592

I ended up reading more than I thought I would in July, mostly because the first part of the home improvement project was a bit delayed and I used the time to binge-read my pending ARCs. I was quite lucky with my reading choices in general too, and found quite a few new favorites including my eleventh 5 star read of the year. I also had 6 books with a 3 star rating or below, but overall I can’t complain.

JULY 2020 READS

5 STARS: Absolutely and entirely mind blowing! I suggest you to pick up a copy now.

Dear Martin – by Nic Stone

4.5 STARS: This one was almost perfect. Surely fantastic!

Entre Senderos De Lavanda – by Mariela Gimenez // Lobizona – by Romina Garber // His & Hers – by Alice Feeney // The Bookish Life Of Nina Hill – by Abbi Waxman // The Night Swim – by Megan Goldin

4 STARS: Wow, this was really good. Close to amazing!

The Big Chill – by Doug Johnstone // Save Her Soul – by Lisa Regan // Echoes Of Guilt – by Rob Sinclair // The Shadows – by Alex North // The Silence – by Luca Veste // Lies Lies Lies – by Adele Parks // Playing Nice – by JP Delaney // The Switch – by Beth O’Leary // Sight Unseen – by Sandra Ireland

3.5 STARS: Great read. Really entertaining!

Deadly Vengeance – by OMJ Ryan

3 STARS: It was a nice read, but not fantastic.

Opium And Absinthe – by Lydia Kang // Broken Hearts, Fences And Other Things To Mend – by Katie Finn

2 STARS: It was ok. But mostly ‘meh’. 

The Cry Of The Lake – by Charlie Tyler // Fruit Of The Drunken Tree – by Ingrid Rojas Contreras // The Glass Hotel – by Emily St. John Mandel 

1 STAR: Boy, this one gave me a hard time. Not a book to touch again.

I Am The Night – by Ethan Cross

I’ve decided to only join a limited amount of 2020 to focus more on the joy of reading without obligations again… And somehow I’m well on my way completing them without even trying haha. I managed to complete my Goodreads challenge 5 months early!! I decided to update it to 200 since there is still a lot of time left, although I’m way ahead schedule still so I probably should have increased the goal even more. xD I’m a bit worried about 20 Books Of Summer challenge as I still have to read 5 titles and I won’t be able to read much in August, but we’ll see I guess.

# CHALLENGES #

As for my other goals… My ARC/backlist ratio did a nosedive, but then again I already expected that as I had a huge pile of ARCs I needed to work through and I focused mostly on my ARCs in July. Whoops? I did manage to finish my international authors/translation goal as well as my second Spanish read, which I’m really happy about… But I need to step up with the other goals in September once I have more time to read again.

# OTHER READING/BLOGGING GOALS #

  • Read at least 3 (modern) classics (rereads don’t count) DONE!! 3/3 (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang // A Study In Scarlet // The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button)
  • Complete at least 10 series (rereads don’t count) 6/10 (Feverwake // Lacey Flint // If I Stay // The Bird And The Sword Chronicles // The Hundred-Year-Old Man // Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell)
  • Reread at least 2 books DONE!! 2/2 (Deep Blue Trouble // Pippi Longstocking)
  • Bring my physical TBR pile below 600 books and keep it that way. 752/600
  • Read at least one book over 800 pages 0/1 (highest page count 774 pages; She Has A Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be)
  • Keep ARC/backlist title ratio below 40% 48,4%
  • Read at least 2 books in Spanish DONE!! 2/2 (Harry Potter Y Las Reliquias De La Muerte // Entre Senderos De Lavanda)
  • Read at least 1 book in Dutch DONE!! 1/1 (Moederkruid)
  • Read at least 15 international authors and/or translations DONE!! 15/15 (Dark Mother Earth (Croatia DNF) // My Sister, The Serial Killer (Nigeria) // Perfume (Germany) // Death Deserved (Norway) // Blue Night (Germany) // Pippi Longstocking (Sweden) // Sister (Norway) // The Girl In The Tree (Turkey) // The Creak On The Stairs (Iceland) // The Guest Cat (Japan) // Moederkruid (The Netherlands) // The Accidental Further Adventures Of The Hundred-Year-Old Man (Sweden) // The Child (Germany) // Entre Senderos De Lavanda (Argentina) // Fruit Of The Drunken Tree (Colombia))
  • Read at least 10 TBR jar picks 5/10 (Like This For Ever // What We Saw // The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry // Evil At Heart // Broken Hearts, Fences And Other Things To Mend)
  • Join at least 5 challenges during the year DONE!! 5/5
  • Keep my Netgalley ratio above the 80% 96%

Stay safe and happy reading!

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